The WSL has vigorously denied allegations made by Eddie Rothman in his latest YouTube rant. Of course one of 2014’s biggest viral clips in surfing was Rothman’s rant against surfing’s governing body, then known as the ASP, and he seems to have enjoyed the exposure. Rothman’s new clip is a much bigger broadside against the WSL and it’s key personnel including CEO Paul Speaker, regional head in Hawaii Randy Rarick and Chief Marketing & Strategy Officer Graham Stapleberg. Rothman initially proposes a $US50,000 lie detector challenge before making a raft of allegations that include;
The WSL cut promised funds for the DaHui Backdoor Shootout.
The WSL threatened the Hawaiian TV channel Oceanic Surf not to broadcast events involved with the Da Hui.
That Randy Rarick, “worked feverishly to kill the Duke Kahanamoku Contest” and “stole a pure Hawaiian old lady’s house for 1/4 of the market value.”
That Paul Speaker, “bought the Big Wave Tour, just to bury it.”
Tracks spoke to WSL however and their VP of Communications Dave Prodan was quick to refute the latest tirade by Eddie. Regarding the Backdoor Shootout Prodan said, “The relationship between the WSL and the Backdoor Shootout is one which solely involves the application of sanctioning CT athletes to compete in an unsanctioned event. The relationship has never involved funding from the ASP.”
In response to the TV Channel Oceanic Surf, the WSL are equally dismissive. “Completely false. Oceanic has been a firm supporter of professional surfing and we look forward to continuing this relationship in 2015 and beyond.”
On the question of the Big Wave Tour (BWT) and the supposed “burying” Prodan says, “The WSL has tremendous respect and value for the Big Wave Tour, funding events and broadcasting them with the same teams that we commit to the Championship Tour. We’ve had two excellent events this season in Peru and the Basque Country. Makua Rothman (Eddie’s son), in his first season competing on the BWT, is currently in the driver’s seat to secure the 2014/2015 BW Title.”
Tracks also spoke to Randy Rarick, as the claims made by Rothman against Rarick are more personal. However Rarick, understandably, declined to comment.
However after a bit of research, some of the other claims by Eddie also don’t stack up so well. For example he seems quite upset about a “2-Star in Florida” and an event in Virginia Beach. However the WSL hasn’t run an event in Florida and the Virginia Beach event takes place in August, which doesn’t conflict with any Hawaiian events. Also the claim that Australians have been bought over to run the water patrol is undermined by the fact that for the Triple Crown events the water patrol team was run by Hawaiian legend Terry Ahue, and has been for several years.
Of course facts or no facts, Eddie is quite admired by some for his ability to kick the professional surfing ant nest. As founder of Hawaii’s notorious Blackshorts and active member of the Da Hui, Rothman has been antangonising the sport’s officialdom for almost 40 years. While the WSL has denied all the allegations, we are still waiting on Paul Speaker or Grahams Stapleberg’s to take up the offer of the a lie detector challenge. If it goes ahead, here’s hoping it’s webcast live.
